Because every saga has its beginning
by inbid
Summary: Every saga has its beginning, and so do the "Adventures of Sinbad". How did Sinbad's parents die? Why does Scratch hate him so much? Find out in my prologue of "The Adventures of Sinbad"
1. Mother

_**Dear readers,**_  
_**First of all, thank you for your reviews on my earlier stories.**_  
_**I hope you will also enjoy this one.**_  
_**It is a prologue to "Adventures of Sinbad". It takes place in past and it starts even before Sinbad's birth. As for the rest you will find out once you read it.**_

_**Enjoy that new journey to the past!**_

_**Because every sage has its beginning...**_

_**Inbid**_

* * *

"Land ho!" The loud cry echoed throughout the entire ship. The young, muscular captain was sitting at the bow, and his blue eyes were watching the port as they got closer and closer to. The wind was playing with his brown hair, belted with a headband.

One of his crewmembers, and at the same time his good friend, came to him and said, "Sakim, the crew is waiting for their payments."

The captain was still gazing at the land in front of his ship but he nodded and answered, "I will come in a minute."

His first crew-mate dismissed, yet Sakim did not move from his place; he was still watching the sea and the approaching land. He loved his ship and the sea-voyages he had upon it. Coming back to Basra, to his big, empty house, upset him. Almost all his sailors had wives and children, a family to which they came back too. But, he was alone; no wife, no kids, he did not even have a dog. His house in Basra was just an empty building where he lived.

The sailor took one last look at the crowded port then went to pay his crew.

* * *

The port in Basra seemed to look usual. A day like all the others. People were walking, talking, and trading. Ships were arriving and leaving. The city was full of life and noise.

A few boys were playing in the market when suddenly they all ran to the port to see Captain Sakim and his team. They did not have a good view because of the crowd, so they climbed over a stall where they could see everything.

When the proud sailors were walking through the throng, the kids were observing their every step.

One ten years old boy said to his friends, "One day I, too will become a sailor."

"Yeah, we want to see that!" They took a poke at him. But he only gave them the ignorant look. He was taught to always believe in his dreams.

Suddenly he heard some female voice calling, "Doubar!"

The blond, plump boy turned around and ran to his mother. A petit woman with long, blond hair, a blue headband and dressed in a linen, poor dress stood in the entrance to the small port house and waved at her son. The woman had a gold coin on her neck which was her only jewelry.

When the boy ran to her she put her arm around his shoulders, "Come on, your dinner is waiting." They both smiled at each other and went inside.

Their house was rather poorly furnished. In the main room which also accounted for a kitchen there were a fireplace, a table, some cupboards and two armchairs. There was also the door that lead to their small bedroom. It was not all that much but it was all they had except each other. Their love, their bond, which was their strength.

The woman was named Maea but her son used to call her Mala, only because when he had been younger he had not been able to say 'mother' or Maea and he had started to call her Mala. She was a very joyful and helpful person, just like her son. They had never complained and had always been grateful for what they had; they were always was willing to share it with more necessitousness.

Doubar sat by the table and his mother gave him a plate of soup. Then she kissed his forehead and sat down to watch how her little, blond man was eating.

* * *

In the other part of the town, in a big mansion, another woman, also a mother was waiting for her son.

* * *

In a beautiful furnished chamber, on the marble floor, a big white lion was laying. That amazing creature was guarding his mistress whose feet were petting his nape. The woman was sitting in a comfortable armchair in front of an easel with an unfinished picture of a sunrise. She was leading the brush with great precision and calm at the same time.

Another wave from picture was being created by her, while the servant walked in and informed her, "Lady Alena, Captain Sakim in coming."

The lion raised his head and ears while his mistress suddenly turned around at the servant. Her blond wavy hair was so fluffy that with her white highlights it looked a lot like the mane of her companion. She gently stood up and put on the elegant cothurnus-sandals. She was a slim, smart, beautiful woman in her early fifties. She wore a long, navy blue dress in Greek style and a lot of jewelery. Gold bracelets on both her arms were ringing while she moved.

Alena gave the servant a nod, "Serve dinner in the garden!"

The man bowed and left his mistress' presence. The lady also walked out from the chamber to welcome her son and her creature followed her.

She was crossing the hall, with servants on both sides and her beast right behind her; the big front door was being opened and Alena opened her arms calling, "Sakim, my son!"

The sailor did not believe his eyes. He pulled his mother into a hug.

"Mother what are you doing here?"

His mother's presence was a rather big surprise for him. He had not been expecting anyone and for sure not her. She pulled away and gave him a warning look, "That's how you welcome the woman who gave you birth?"

"Of course not! I just wonder how you got here." He looked at her with curious eyes.

She usually traveled only with him. But on the other hand she always was full of surprises, an unpredictable woman.

"Sakim, son, does that really matter?" Like usual she avoided the answer, took him by the arm and walked through the hall into the garden's direction.

"I came here to show myself at a few parties."  
She always cared so much for public appearances. In her youth, she used to attend such parties, the political life with regularity. Even if she had more enemies then friends there; she was always invited and always respected.

Sakim just sighed, "I thought so…"

"Sakim, my son, someone has to care about the good name of our family."

The young captain snickered, "For sure that someone is not my brother."

His mother gave him an indignant look. "Never say things like that! It's not how I brought you up! No matter what, he is your brother. The family, the brotherhood, that's the real strength."

After her words he did not say anything. They had walked into the garden in silence. Before they sat down at the table, the lion that was still following his lady step by step, lay down on the ground. When the servants served their meal, Alena was only watching how her first-born was eating the roast.


	2. Everything has its reasons

Alena was standing at the patio watching the sea glisten in the early afternoon sun.  
Her beast, as always, was lying next to her feet. The huge white lion was called Drego. She had raised the cub who had become her guardian and the best companion ever. Nobody knew how she had broken his wild nature and made him an obedient pet. The white lion was a most unusual creature. There were not many people who had the opportunity to see one of its kind. Many cultures believed that they were magical creatures sent by gods or that they were gods themselves.

Since Alena's husband had used to bring her only the most unusual gifts from his voyages, the white lion cub had simply joined her collection of exotic gifts.

Sakim awkwardly came close to his mother. When she turned to him she could see that he was holding a box in his hands. He gently opened it. Inside was a beautiful cashmere necklace.

He knew how much his mother loved the jewels. It was her real weakness.

"It's a gift for you, mother." Sakim said and very gently kissed his mother's hand.

Alena put her fingers on the necklace.

"Thank you, my son." She said and after giving Sakim a quick smile she added, "But I would be happier if you brought me a daughter in law…"

The sailor rolled his eyes, "Mother… we have been talking about this for so times…"

"But you still don't listen to me!" She cut in.

Sakim bit his lips and murmured, "Mother…"

But Alena's eyes were turned to someone else now: a middle-aged man dressed in a long purple coat with a large belt and turban on his head. He had a stick in his left hand. He nodded at the lady respectfully.

"Good afternoon, Alena"

"Good afternoon, Dim-Dim" She answered with a smile and added, "Maybe you can persuade my son of some priorities."

She gave her son an indignant glance and with proud steps she left the patio leaving him and Dim-Dim alone. Drego faithfully followed his lady.

The sage came closer to Sakim and put his hand on his right shoulder, "Hello, my boy."

The captain answered him with great warmth and friendship in his smile and nod.

Dim-Dim breathed in deeply and asked, "What is the problem with your mother?"

"Always the same. She wants me to get married." Sakim smirked.

"She doesn't understand my arguments. I won't marry any woman only because she thinks her to be a good wife and a good mother for her grandchild." He sighed, "If I met someone for me, I would get married then."

The wise eyes were watching Sakim while he was speaking and they seemed to giving him the signs of understanding. Dim-Dim always tried to be the impartial mediator in conflicts between Sakim and his mother.

So also, this time, he stayed this way, "I can understand you very well, my boy, but you must also think about your mother's feelings. She is worried about you. She only wants the best for you."

The way he was talking always made others keep his words in their hearts. Sakim knew this so well that he did not need any details or examples of what Dim-Dim had just told him.

Those few words were enough to make the sailor think for a while.

* * *

In the meantime, Alena was hosting Dim-Dim's wife in the garden. The women were sitting by the small, round table situated right next to the pond.

Alena's bare feet were resting on her pet's nape. It was her usual position and the beast seemed to like it. She took a sip of wine and turned at her guest whose eyes were looking at some young, pretty girl sitting in the shadow of a tree.

"You are watching the new queen of Baghdad, my dear Caipra."

Caipra was a middle-aged woman, dressed in a long, violet dress and a headscarf on her head.

She looked at her friend with curious eyes and asked, "Queen of Baghdad, you say?"

Alena's glance shifted to the girl, "She is my cousin's daughter. He wants her to get married to a rich man. Also, the Caliph's mother is looking for a good wife for her son. I made a deal with her and my cousin sent his daughter to me."

"You killed two birds with one stone" Caipra summed up.

"Yes, indeed. Now I will have my girl in Baghdad's palace." She gently bit her lips. "You know that the black magic followers want to have their impacts as well. We need to prevent it."

For a moment both women stayed in silence because they both knew how true Alena's words were. But yet, her intrigues were hard to understand for Caipra. The woman sometimes even scared her.

Alena's question brought her attention back to her hostess, "By the way, what do you know about a being called Scratch?"

Caipra turned at her friend. In her eyes anxiety all to easily seen.

"It is some kind of demon. They say that a long time ago he made a deal with the master of the underworld. I heard he traded human souls in this deal. A quite powerful harvest for evil. But why are you asking?"

Alena who was really interested in everything that Caipra had just said answered, "Because he visited me."

In the same moment her guest shivered and the woman added, "I don't know what he wanted exactly, but I guess that it was about trying to get me on his side."

Caipra was looking with unease at Alena, "You said no…" Her sentence was half a question half a theorem.

"I got rid of him and told him to never again enter my house."

But even the confident, emphatic tone did not calm down her friend.  
Caipra did not say anything after that.

* * *

Doubar looked into his mother's direction to check on what she was doing. The blond woman seemed to be rather busy with the ordinary, everyday housework. He used that moment to get outside unnoticed. Slowly and quietly he closed the front door behind him and moved across the small, narrow street. It was already early evening and Basra was not the same town as it had been during the day. There were not many people left in the port and the market also seemed to be rather empty. Doubar passed the harbor and was running along the beach.

His destination was obvious – his place of reverie. In reality, it was merely a few rocks which offered a good view of the sea.  
The little boy used to come here often, but he had never told anyone about it. It was his secret and his seclusion. The place where he could come to think, to dream, and to play - and nobody would ever disturbed him. So on this evening, he took his favorite place on his favorite rock and started throwing little stones into the sea. Of course he was not expecting anyone.  
That is why he was so surprised or even fearful when he heard some male voice behind him, "Hi there…"

Doubar roused and jumped from the rock. He did not turn around to check whose voice this could be; He just wanted to escape.

Then it called after him again, "Wait, it was not my intention to scare you! Really!"

The boy slowed down and decided to take a look at the voice's owner. When he turned his head, he could not believe his own eyes.  
It was him – his hero, his idol, and last person he had ever expected to meet there – it was Captain Sakim himself. His warm smile and friendly glance swayed Doubar to get back on the rock.

Sakim held out his hand to shake the boy's smaller one.

"I am…" he wanted to introduced himself but Doubar cut in, "Captain Sakim, I know."

He smiled and shook the captain's hand.

The sailor giggled and asked, "And do you have a name?"

The blond boy was so excited that he had forgotten to introduce himself but he quickly fixed his mistake, "Yes, my name is Doubar."

Doubar was stupefied and he was watching Sakim like he were a ghost. He was not able to say anything at that moment. For Sakim the boy's behavior made the whole situation even more awkward. He wanted to clear the atmosphere a bit so he sat down on the rock and with a friendly gesture invited him to do the same.

Doubar slowly placed himself on the rock, still gazing at captain. For a while he thought he must be dreaming and soon he would wake up. But Sakim's voice convinced him that this in fact was not a dream.

"So how old are you?"

"Almost 11, sir." He answered with an unsteady tone.

"I'm Sakim. I told you, so call me Sakim, not sir, master, mister or whatever. Do I look that old?" He asked politely with a smirk.

Doubar did not know what to answer or how to behave; he was so stressed that it was really visible. The young captain put his hand on his shoulder, "Hey… I don't bite… relax…"

That brought a little smile to his young face.

"That's better." Sakim said and asked, "Maybe you could tell me something about yourself?"

But the mess in Doubar's mind did not allow him to speak.

"I would tell you something about me, but I guess you already know everything…" Sakim was trying to keep up the conversation.

"You live in Basra?"

Doubar finally broke from his reverie and answered, "Yes, with my mom."

The young sailor nodded his head, "With your mom, so just like me…"

That reminded him of the reason which had brought him to this place – his stubborn mother. For a tiny moment he thought about their last conversation and what Dim-Dim had told him afterwards. Her constant insistence had tormented him for a long time and he had been thinking about it very often.

Doubar broke his pondering, "I saw your mom once at the market. She is scary."

Sakim turned at him and giggled "Thanks a lot…"

Doubar felt a little embarrassed again but the captain quickly tried to change it, "But you got a point, she can be really scary sometimes." He said and smiled at the abashed boy.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

The boy gave him a dreamy smile, "No, but I wish I had a brother."

The sailor chuckled, "I can give you mine."

"You don't like him?" Doubar asked.

"It's not that I don't like him, I love him, he is my brother. It's just that sometimes, I don't understand him. But he and my mother- they are the only family I have." He explained.

"You don't have a wife or kids?"

Sakim raised his eyebrows, "No, but I wish I had a son or daughter."

Both of them giggled.

Both of them thought about something, about their families. Sakim thought about his mother and decided to talk with her again from the heart. It had been a long time since they had done it. Even if he had come here to meditate in solitude, that funny little boy had helped him to solve the problems faster than he ever would have alone.  
Doubar also thought about his mother and he knew that she was worried about him.

He stood up and said, "I need to go, my mom will be mad at me."

The captain gave him a warm smile and nodded, "Sure, hope to see you here again sometime soon."

A grin crawled up Doubar's face, "Of course."

Then he turned around and went home. Sakim was watched the boy leave. He did not know this boy well, but some inner voice was telling him that he was someone really unusual. He felt a positive energy, and he just knew that their meeting had to have some exceptional reasons behind it. Like his teacher always said, everything had its reasons.


	3. Guests

It was late evening. The major hall in the palace of Basra was very crowded with smartly dressed people. All of them were the sultan's guests; they all were rich and powerful, artificially smiling at each other.

Alena was proudly walking around the others followed by her young charge. Both women wore beautiful, long, cashmere dresses.

Alena's fluffy hair, was smartly pined up and she was wearing the necklace which she had gotten from Sakim.

"Look, child, they all are just a gang of leeches."

The young woman looked at her aunt while she was talking.

"Beware of them, once you become a queen." She whispered, taking a glass of wine from the table. She was walking awkwardly across the floor when she came across a trio; two men and one woman.

The latter was a very beautiful, petite brunette with brown eyes, dressed in a long, yellow dress with a golden scarf on her shoulders. One of the men looked a lot like her. He had high cheekbones, a long beard and thick eyebrows, and he was dressed in a long, brown coat belt with a matching yellow stripe. The second one was dressed in a black outfit. He was a quite handsome and tall dark-haired man with a wide forehead and black eyes.

The woman smiled at Alena,"Good evening, Alena."

She just gave her an antagonistic glace and answered, "Good evening, Trea," she saluted at the men, "Turok, Trias…" They bowed back at her as Trea tried to keep eye contact.

"Beautiful necklace."

Alena put her fingers on her neck and answered the compliment, "Of course. It's a present from my first-born…"

She put an ironical smile on her face and gently bit her lips. She knew how Turok had been deploring that his first child was not a boy. For some, it could be seen that, he hated his older daughter for this. Trea could see the irritation on her husband, so she quickly change the subject, "Who is that little one?" She pointed at Alena's companion.

"It's my cousin's daughter and soon… the new queen of Baghdad." The blond woman answered triumphantly.

The three of them made confused faces. Trea just gave a muffled shout.

Proud Alena smiled at them once again, "Have a nice evening."

Then she and the young girl walked away.

Her conflict with these people had started many years ago. She had already been living here, in the East with her husband, when the three of them appeared from nowhere. Nobody had known anything about them besides that they were followers of black magic. All other sorcerers had been hiding their lifestyle and tried to be preceived as an usual family.  
Alena knew that they wanted to have their influences everywhere just like her.  
It was the eternal litigation of black and white magic.

"Did you hear that?" Trea asked her twin brother and her husband.

"Don't worry my dear. I heard that she got torn up with some demon. Her career won't be eternal then." Turok told her as he was watching how Alena was introducing her companion to some dignitaries. The smile on her face was a view he could not stand. He turned around, took his wife by the arm, and the three of them went away.

* * *

The next day, a hot morning promised to be an even more hotter afternoon. A tall man was sitting on a wooden scaffold and measuring something on the side wall of the ship when someone called,"Tell me how's my baby!"

"Sakim, I don't even wanna know what you have been doing with this ship!" He answered and putting down his tools he jumped from the scaffold to the captain and shook his hand.

"But don't worry, I will take care of it." He added with a smile. In the same moment he noticed a beautiful young woman who was following Sakim with the two servants.

"Wow…and who is that beautiful bird?"

Sakim giggled at his question, "That's my cousin, Berenika. She wanted to see our port and my ships. I took her for a walk"

The craftsman bowed at the woman and Sakim introduced his friend to her,"He's a ship builder. The best one in the East. My ships are always in good hands when they need repair or something."

Berenika smiled at them when some young boy called from the ship's deck, "Good morning, captain!"

The sailor waved at the boy, "Good morning, Aiden."

He turned back at his cousin, "And that's my cabin boy. He has a great potential."

Then he offered her his arm and helped her get on deck.

He took her for a little trip around the ship. She had been very curious of everything since she had arrived in Basra.

In the meantime, like every-other day a group of boys came to the port to watch the ships and the sailors. And so did Doubar.  
However he decided not to tell his mates about his meeting last night. He guessed they were not going to believe him anyway. His mother had not. She had not wanted to hear what he had been about to tell her. She always acted like that when he arrived home late.

The bunch of boys went to ask Kamar, the ships builder, if they could help with something. The man gave them the web and some ropes to untangle them. Each of them was doing it very carefully and was concentrating only on the rope until they noticed that captain Sakim was strolling on the deck of his ship. Now, all their eyes were turned into his direction. But they were even more excited when he and Berenika left the ship and were walking directly to them. Only Doubar seemed to be not as excited as the others.

Sakim was walking with his cousin by his arm, followed by the two servants.

He noticed the group of boys. He knew them because they were showing up everywhere he went, but this time one of them was more familiar than the others. When he was passing them he could recognize him exactly.

So the sailor smiled at the kid who was trying not to look at him and saluted,"Hello Doubar…"

The bold boy's face was as red as beetroot because all his confused friends now were gazing at him. Sakim quickly found out that the situation really was not very favorable so he decided to fix it a bit, "Can you come with us? I have some new jobs for you."

It was supposed to be neutral and at least it looked natural. Doubar who was completely lost and disconcerted thought that he should rather followed captain Sakim than stay here and explain himself.

His friends had not been able to say anything until he and Sakim's procession left the port. They had been just standing there with open mouths there and watching them walking away.

Sakim, Berenika, Doubar, and two servants were now going though the way that lead to Sakim's mansion. At both its sides there were rows of fruit trees.

The captain finally said to the boy,"Sorry for that. It was a bit awkward."

"Are you kidding?" The boy revolted. "It was awesome. Now, they will die being envious."

Berenika could not help herself from laughing.

Sakim also chuckled and added, "If you say so…"

"But what job do you got for me?" Doubar asked

"Well…" The sailor did not know what to answer because he did not have one. It was just to get Doubar from the oppression.

Berenika smiled at boy and asked, " Maybe you will join us and eat a snack with us?"

Doubar who loved eating nodded in agreement immediately.

* * *

A few hours later the three of them were sitting at the terrace and drank a compote. Berenika and Sakim were listening to Doubar who was nonstop talking about this and that and they also were answering to many of his questions.

Now, the boy was looking at Berenika and said,"You look like an angel."

Indeed, somehow she did. She was a very beautiful woman with a long blond curls.

"My mom also is like an angel." He added and Sakim asked,"Won't she be worried about you?

"No, she is working now." He answered with somehow a sad tone.

"Where does she work?"

"At home. She sews…"

Sakim was about to ask him something else but in the same moment the servant ran to them.

"Captain, the whole port district is on fire!"

Everyone was nervous and confused. They stood up and they were slowly realizing what the man had just said. It was not something paranormal since a drought had been plaguing Basra for quite some time but still it was very unexpected.

"My men are there!." Sakim said when he realized that the port district was a home for the most of his captains and their crews. Even his best friend lived there. He was ready to leave to help this people.

Tears appeared into Doubar's eyes because the boy also realized something. There was his mother.

He called after the captain, "My mom is there too!"

Berenika put her hands on Doubar's shoulders. Sakim turned around and looked into his eyes.

Then he called to his servant, "MY HORSE!"

The man quickly disappeared. Sakim also went out from the terrace, Doubar and Berenika followed him. The captain was so intent that he even ignored his mother while he was passing her. Doubar was quickly running after him. When they got outside the house, Sakim's horse was already waiting.

He got it and turned to Doubar, "Stay here!"

"I wanna go!"

They both knew it was not a good moment for this kind of quarrel. The sailor looked into the boy's eyes once again and did not know why but he felt he had to take him with him.

Sakim gave him his hand and Doubar got at back of the horse.

"Hia!"

As quick as lightning they rode for the port...


	4. Maternal Instinct

The way to the port had never seemed to be so long as it did in that moment. As Sakim pushed his horse to its limits, Doubar held on tight. The boy's imagination showed him only the darkest scenes which he could expect to see in the port.  
They could already smell the smoke from the fire and hear the people panic. Doubar's tear-filled eyes now showed extreme fear.  
Soon they were able to see the burning buildings and the screaming crowd too. They rode closer.

Straight away, before the horse came to a stop, Doubar jumped off and jostled his way through the throng of people. Sakim quickly followed him.

The port was in deep disarray. People were screaming, crying, and running. Some men were trying to put out the fire with buckets of water. Some women were helping the injured people.  
Caipra was one of them. The middle-aged sorceress had a golden heart and thanks to her knowledge and abilities she could help many people in need.

Doubar was looking for his mother in the crowd, but he could not find her anywhere. He turned around and saw the only place where Mala could be – their house, all on fire.  
Sakim stood behind the boy and grabbed him by his shoulder seeing what he wanted to do. Doubar was trying to bust out but the captain gave him no chance for that.

"LET ME GO!"

"No!"

They were still quarreling when a man ran up to them, "Sakim! What are you doing here!"

It was the captain's best friend and his first mate. He was tall and well-built, dark-haired, and he also lived in one of the port houses. For Sakim, his presence was a relief and an anxiety all at the same time.

"Are you fine? What about your wife and kids?" He asked. His friend just nodded and could not say anything else because Doubar was still screaming,

"My mom is inside! Let me go!"

But Sakim had a better idea. He gave his friend a knowing glance and said, "I'm going inside!"

The man had known him long enough to not even try to change his mind. He grabbed Doubar's arm so Sakim could rush into the house.

The captain quickly moved and jumped inside the house through the window. The small room was full of smoke and he was unable to see much of anything. Coughing, he began to search for Mala. She was lying on the floor; she was already unconscious.  
Sakim was trying to reach her and pass by the burning furniture all at once.  
Once her limp body was in his arms, he began to search for a way out as quickly as possible. He knew he could not jump through the window with the woman in his arms. He looked around in an attempt to find some way out.

It was getting hotter and hotter. He could see less and less. The smoke pulled the tears from of his eyes. The captain was walking blindly hoping to find the door, a window, or anything to get out. Through his shorten breaths, the door suddenly appeared. At least for him it seemed to. He closed his eyes, which were full of tears, and kicked the door down. The fresh air touched the captain's nostrils and he ran out of the house.

His eyes were still closed but he could hear Doubar's voice calling, "MOM!"

Sakim slowly opened his eyes and saw three people standing next to him. A moment later he recognized them. There was his friend, Doubar, who was holding his mother's hand, and Caipra with an anxious glance.

The sorceress touched Mala's face and said, "She is hardly breathing! It may be too late for my herbs."

Sakim looked at the crying Doubar and then at his mother's face. She was dying and he knew of only one person who could help her now.

"We need to take her to my mother!"

* * *

Sakim was running across the hall holding Mala in his arms and Doubar was right behind him. The servants were just getting out of the captain's way and did not even try to ask him about what they witnessed. Alena, hearing a fuss in her house, walked out from her bedroom and saw her son.

He was dirty with soot and it frightened her. At first, she thought he was hurt, but then she noticed the woman in his arms and the boy running after him.

The picture was rather unusual in this house.

"What happened?" she asked

Sakim did not feel it was a good moment to explain it.

"Mother, you must help her."

Alena made a confused if slightly disgusted face at him.

She did not like the idea. She did not belong to those people who were interested in the problems of the 'plebs', as she called them. She did not know the woman or the boy. They did not look like someone worthy of her attention.

So she whispered, "What? Who is she?"

The young sailor looked deep into her eyes before he answered, "She is a mother just like you and for her son she is the whole world, just like you are for me."

Sakim knew exactly how to talk to his mother to get his way. Her maternal instinct always won out in one of their good arguments.

Doubar's eyes met Alena's. She could see there fear and despair.

She grabbed Mala's limp hand and said, "Take her to my chamber."

Sakim quickly ran inside and placed the woman on the bed. Doubar followed him of course; but Alena did not move from her place. She had been standing motionlessly for a while before she also went inside her chamber.

She threw a strong look at both of them, "Now get out, you two!"

At first, Doubar was recalcitrant but once Sakim put a hand on his shoulder he went out with the captain, leaving his mother at the mercy of some strange, scary woman.

Once she was sure they were out of her chambers and out of sight, she waved her hand and sealed her chambers.

Nobody really knew what she did in here. She never let anyone accompany her during her mysterious rituals. Even her husband had never gotten to know what his wife had been doing behind the door of her personal chamber, and neither did Sakim.

Only after so many years of trail and error, had he learnt to get out of his mother's way.

All they could do now was wait…


	5. Recovery

_My Dear readers,_  
_First of all, **THANK YOU** so much for so many subscriptions that I've got recently. :)_  
_Secondly, I'm really sorry that I made you wait so long for this part. At first it was due to the lack of time, then the lack of inspiration. I still have some kind of "creative blockage" that is why this part is so short. I simply decided to publish what I've got and start to work on the next part._  
_Hope you are gonna enjoy it :)_

_Special **THANKS** for my betareader :-* _

_Your,  
Inbid_

* * *

The dark slowly started to disappear and Mala opened her eyes. Everything was still a bit blurred for her but not for long. A moment later she could see all the shapes around her. Even if the place did not seem to be familiar it was nice and insolated. When she raised her head to look around, she noticed her son sleeping on the chair next to her bed.

As much as his presence confused her, it brought Mala a subconscious sense of relief.

She felt weak.

Still, she did not know the reason why they were there. What had happened? She did not remember anything.

Mala slowly touched her son's hair.

"He has been sitting by your side ever since you arrived here."

She heard a woman's voice and noticed a slim character sitting in the other side of the room. The woman had her back to her, so Mala could not see her face, only the long blond curls.

"Where am I?"

"My son saved you from the fire…"

Fire

Suddenly Mala's memory started to recall some random and blurry images.

"My name is Alena and I'm hosting you in my house."

Now the woman turned around and Mala recognized her. She had seen her sometimes in the market. Still, she did not understand anything.

What had happened? Why was one of the richest persons of Basra hosting her in her own house?

The confusing chaos of her situation did not let her concentrate. She could remember everything, but the chaos only let her see random bits that were in sequential order. She was trying to roll everything into one picture but she could not.

Her eyes again turned to her son and thought about what had happened; it did not really matter now. The most important thing was that they both were safe; that Doubar was safe.

Everything else rest could wait.

Mala was about to ask her something when her son woke up and hugged her tightly.

"Mom! Mom! I was so worried about you!" Doubar shouted, still holding her.

When she finally managed to separate a bit from him, she noticed that they were alone in the room. Alena had disappeared somewhere.

When Mala pulled Doubar back she asked him, "Tell me about what happened…"

* * *

Sakim was sitting alone by his desk in his office. It was not a large room. The walls covered with the various maps made it look a bit gloomy but still, it was luxurious like the whole house.

The young captain hid his face in his hands and rested his elbows on the desk. At the sound of someone's steps he raised his head.

It was his mother followed by the white lion. The massive beast fell on the floor at the gesture of his mistress.

"You were in port, weren't you?" She asked coming closer and putting her hand on her son's shoulder.

"Yes, I was. I lost two ships in the fire. Many of my men lost their houses…" he sighed, "People are talking. They know it wasn't an accident…"

"No, it was not…"

Sakim looked into his mother's blue eyes. As usual she knew more than expected, and as usual nobody was able to read her mind.

In her glance he saw only the well known twinkle.

The twinkle of mysteriousness which turned into a smile a moment later.

"She woke up."

Finally, some better news reached captain's ears.

"That's wonderful. Is she fine?"

Alena nodded at him, "She is with her son…"

His temporary, small, euphoria vanished, "They have no house anymore, too…"

"No, my son, they do have a house…"

Sakim raised his eyebrows at this unexpected answer. Alena stroked his face and turned around to leave. Drago got up, too, and followed her.

Once she was walking out she said, "They can stay here as long as it will be needed."

And she vanished out the door.

The captain just smiled to himself and whispered, "Thank you…"

The reasons which had led his mother to this were negligible. He thought it would be better not to think about her intentions. He was just happy they could help his new young friend and his mother.


End file.
